Corn silages are usually well fermented, however, after opening, fungal growth is a recurrent problem. Fungus contamination is not only the cause of significant losses, but also the source of invisible enemies of concern in animal production and human nutrition: mycotoxins. Alex Bach and Cristina Iglesias investigated the effectiveness of a silage inoculant in reducing mycotoxins in corn silages.

Maintaining the health of dogs and cats by providing wholesome, nutritional diets is becoming an important component of esponsible pet ownership. Besides complete and balanced nutrition, product safety and quality parameters, in connection with traceability, are becoming more important.

Adding undigestible sugars such as inulin and oligofructose has been shown to be very beneficial in human diets. Animals can also profit from this authentic ingredient and over the years more evidence has been gained on using inulin as a prebiotic in animal diets. Feed Mix went to Beglium to visit one of the major inulin producers to find out more.

The premix business is an essential component of the success and growth of the pet food industry. The purpose of adding and using supplemental premixes has changed noticeably over recent years and may well continue to do so in the future. Deena Krestel-Rickert shares her experience.

Kicking off what will be a biennial event, Sarah Mellor joined nutritionists from around the globe in the picturesque setting of Salzburg, Austria for the first world nutrition forum. Not content to confine themselves to ingredients and additives, the trailblazers of animal nutrition discussed the future.

Antioxidants fit into the category of natural products strongly associated with health benefits and are regarded by many as vital ingredients in animal diets. It is becoming clearer how they work and which dietary sources are the most potent. This justifies the use of such ingredients in commercial petfood production.

Antioxidants and MOS feature at Alltech's European lecture tour Alltech'smarathon lecture tour this year visited 29 countries in the EU and Eastern Europe between Feb. 10 and March 6. The focus was on antioxidants and mannanoligosaccharides.